AG Urged to Stop Chem Mergers; Regs on Livestock and Grain Trucking

More than 300 groups are asking newly confirmed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to thoroughly investigate, and then stop, the proposed mergers involving six major ag chemical companies.

In a letter sent Monday, the groups said “The proposed mergers of Dow Chemical with DuPont, Monsanto with Bayer, and Syngenta with ChemChina are each problematic on their own, with many likely negative impacts on farmers, businesses, workers, and consumers.”

Executive action taken by President Trump to limit government regulation could positively impact farmers who transport grain and livestock with semis.

American Farm Bureau’s Andrew Walmsley says among a flurry of orders issued by the President is a freeze on regulatory proceedings from the previous administration targeting the trucking industry.

Walmsley say one of those is an electronic log book device that’s a mandate and goes into effect at the end of this year. He says it’s of particular concern for livestock haulers on some additional burdens and costs placed on that.

He tells Brownfield farmers hauling within a 150 mile radius are exempt from the Electronic Logging Device Rule, but Farm Bureau has concerns about transporting livestock at greater distances when exceeding hours of service.

The USDA now supports creating a California federal milk marketing order to replace the state’s order.

The USDA’s Dana Coale tells Brownfield the order has the same formulas and product classifications as the 10 existing federal marketing orders.